If you want to see how hard it is - spend a couple of months on a croft in the Hebrides in winter I'd love nothing better than to have a cottage in the middle of nowhere further north, but I'm also realistic enough to know it isn't feasible, even if I had a partner. There are all sorts of basics that we take for granted, which might not be quite so readily available in a remote place, and a lot of practicalities in day to day living which don't affect us when we live nearer civilisation, but become a totally different scenario in a remote spot. Sometimes, it's nice to have a dream, but we have to understand the reality too, and adapt a bit. Good luck with whatever you decide to do
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Don't forget you will need to provide for your old age, if you don't pay NI or into a pension you will be scuppered when you are too old to maintain any type of smallholding.
Funds permitting, it is still possible to live in a detached cottage with land, and work, depending on what employment you find and it’s location/transport links. Once you are settled in a job and your savings are building, it’s worth keeping your eyes open. Sometimes an opportunity just presents itself and it may be possible to move, say, in 3 or 5 year’s time rather than 10.
Even if it is 10 years, I would echo other’s comments about not going too remote. Perhaps edge of a town, far enough away to feel you are living the good life but close enough to good transport, shops and services and a hospital not too far away so you are not having to travel long distances to access things you can’t be self-sufficient in. A local town is also valuable as a potential future local market for anything you may make or produce as well as a bit of community life. A decent internet signal is essential for future home working or connecting with and selling to more remote customers. Were we live, it’s very rural and relatively remote but the local village is 5 minutes away and we can be in a major town within 30 minutes.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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I'd love nothing better than to have a cottage in the middle of nowhere further north, but I'm also realistic enough to know it isn't feasible, even if I had a partner.
There are all sorts of basics that we take for granted, which might not be quite so readily available in a remote place, and a lot of practicalities in day to day living which don't affect us when we live nearer civilisation, but become a totally different scenario in a remote spot.
Sometimes, it's nice to have a dream, but we have to understand the reality too, and adapt a bit.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Funds permitting, it is still possible to live in a detached cottage with land, and work, depending on what employment you find and it’s location/transport links. Once you are settled in a job and your savings are building, it’s worth keeping your eyes open. Sometimes an opportunity just presents itself and it may be possible to move, say, in 3 or 5 year’s time rather than 10.
Even if it is 10 years, I would echo other’s comments about not going too remote. Perhaps edge of a town, far enough away to feel you are living the good life but close enough to good transport, shops and services and a hospital not too far away so you are not having to travel long distances to access things you can’t be self-sufficient in. A local town is also valuable as a potential future local market for anything you may make or produce as well as a bit of community life. A decent internet signal is essential for future home working or connecting with and selling to more remote customers. Were we live, it’s very rural and relatively remote but the local village is 5 minutes away and we can be in a major town within 30 minutes.